Pole Vault Spotting Proposal...

[vaulter870]

i personaly have found a spot to be comforting on the first jump on anew or bigger pole. probubly always isnt a good idea as stated above but i think that i am compatent enough to stop my self if i know that the just isnt going to work. but i can see the point that beginners can get seriously injured i know i have had my near injury experences learning to vault.

[vcpvcoach]

For what it worth, if my high school athletes are not making the pit or are planting late or wrong, I send them to work on whatever it is to fix the problem. They are not happy about it but I'm their coach, it's simply my job. We have a saying, "Live to vault another day."
I took a clinnic at Reno with Jan and I agree that the vaulter who it not making the pit should lower his grip. Sometimes, they must drop a whole pole 13' to 12'-6". Jan's got a great chart in the cert. course.
If they don't make a PR, oh well. Everybody has an off day and they need to deal with it.
I know that this sounds harsh, but I treat my vaulter like my own children. And, I always have many kids signing up to vault even with my tough rules.

Make them jump in control and in the pit.

[mcminkz05]

Well, i can offer the view of a high school vaulter.. Being spotted, i think, could be helpful in a few instances. . Much of the challenge of getting on new larger poles, even when your 100% ready, is confidence. If there was someone there simply to give my pole a shove toward the pit if i stalled out, I know I would be much more confident in taking up a new pole. I would do it anyway, but iv been rejected my fair share of times, and I dont see the hurt in having someone there, only to make sure if you get stood up, you still make the pit. Now if that keeps happening, obviously get a smaller pole, i dont see many people tryign to jump on a pole at a bar when all they can cant even swing on it.. Now i dont think a spotter should play any larger a role than that, I agree if someone is planting off, or has too high a grip and they are consistantly having to be "spotted", then they would potentially keep using the same pole, or making the same mistakes. I dont want to see anyone get hurt, but if youre planting crazy or over gripping and landing all over the outside edges of the pits, thatl usually convince most people to make some corrections. And if that doesnt, then someone ought to come over and beat some sense into them with a pole. I know im just re-iterating points already made. But if the key to vaulitng safe is correct technique, and spotting can encourage vaulitng without making the necessary corrections to achieve this, you may be saving a few people from getting hurt from time to time, but ultimatly leading to more injuries??

[belmore]

Good coaching, the right grip, these are definitely the only way to go. However, once again today, I saw what Bob Fraley calls pilot error. Good vaulter, good coaching, one small glitch, an official within arms reach of the vaulter, a good official by the way, not react to keeping the athlete in the foam. or spot the vaulter. The athlete hit ground pretty hard, got up shook it off passed her next attempts at that height and cleared the next one. Tough athlete. Could a spot have helped her? Yeah, maybe, a young athletic person probably could have reacted quick enough to help her out, she was small enough to catch but that could have been disastrous as well. This is an interesting topic, I'm glad you brought it up Glenn

[vaultinggoat16]

I agree with spotting in the early to mid range vaulter level or else we could just make a 60x60 mat? that would be fun

[vaulter870]

hmmm 60X60 mats you say? that would be amazingly expensive and also very heavy

[gbob]

I understand that not everyone wants to see a spotter for the vault. But let me put it at you in another way...

If we all believe that all experienced vaulters will never fail, we are being naive. Accidents are going to happen. As Belmore pointed out, and as each one of you should know, we cannot avoid an occasional slip (accident). Experienced vaulters or not, noone can avoid all accidents. So maybe we don’t make a mandatory spotter available. But lets not prohibit a spotter when a vaulter or coach requests one. Spotting may not be some thing to “relyâ€Â

[belmore]

Tell you what Gbob, as long as I am physically able and I am officiating around a pit, I will always try to catch or steer a vaulter to foam. It's just a reflex. I hope other officials will do the same. Luck will always play a part in this event regardless of skill and ability. I am with you on hedging the bet a little.

[USMC Vaulter]

Ok, I normally dont post too many responses on here but I feel that this is an extremely important topic. ANY discussion involving the safety of ourselves as vaulters, our fellow team members/competitors, or our athletes (for all the coaches out there) is something that warrants our attention. ***And I apologize for the length of this post***

Personally I come from an interesting background as far as the sport is concerned... I tought myself to vault. By that, I mean that I had no coach other than the head track coach who knew nothing more than the rules and what it 'looked like'. This isnt exactly "common" per say, however it happens quite a bit and is very similar to those vaulters out there who dont have a decent/dedicated/or well educated coach. Under these dangerous conditions (a beginner, a thrill seeker, and no vaulting coach) I can say that there were many times that having a spotter saved me from quite a few injuries. We just considered it looking after our own. If you were the last one down the runway you spotted the pole and body of the next vaulter as best as you could. Because of this, out of instinct, when I help coach high school vaulters I always position myself somewhere that I could minimize damage if something goes wrong. Lets face the facts, beginner vaulters WILL screw up from time to time, they WILL panic at some point, and they WILL sometimes not make it into the pit. Whether it be wind, how tired they are, a messed up plant, whatever - beginners arent consistant and they arent comfortable - as someone said before, they dont have the confidence yet. I see no harm whatsoever in having someone close by that could give a little push in the right direction if something goes wrong.

And from what I can tell, most people agree that with beginners, having a spotter is a pretty good idea.
The real question lies with the more experience and even elite vaulters.

And this is where the arguments start. So I'll make mine.

I dont really care how good of a coach someone thinks they are, or how wise or knowledgible a vaulter thinks they are - if you cant accept the fact that things go wrong in our sport, then you arent paying attention.

For those of you who are also Neo Vault members - you can see right in the Biffs and Breaks sections that things go wrong, and for incredible and well known vaulters. Mel Mueller and John Besmer getting rejected, Keanan King and John Takahashi losing their grip on the pole, Dana Buller coming down early - and these are just the ones that I know there are clips of.
These are all vaulters that I respect and think are incredibly talented, heck if they're on NeoVault then I'm studying their technique..... yet they are still capable of mistakes.

***Shameless Plug: If you're not a subscriber to NeoVault, then you're really missing out***

Back to the topic.
I worry that cocky coaches and athletes who feel that they are in complete control of the sport, are going to end up doing more damage than good. A good coach is capable of stopping and correcting a vaulter from making dangerous mistakes or jumping in an unsafe manor - true. If a vaulter is jumping to the side or not getting deep into the pit, they can notice and correct the problem or stop the vaulter.
But what happens if the FIRST time the mistake occurs, its a bad one and the vaulter misses the mats completely, or stalls and bails instead of riding it out? No coach has full control over everything that goes on, and it needs to be accepted that things can and will happen that are unpredictable or not one of the usual mistakes vaulters are taught to correct or minimize the damage for. And its these instances where having a spotter could really help things out.

For all the fellow vaulters out there - we need to accept that we can make mistakes - especially in the midst of competition, when the adrenaline is rushing and you really want that next height. Judgement is clouded and things happen - why not be a little more prepared and have someone around to help out if you screw up. Whats the worst thing that could happen? You do just fine and they had a close up view? I dont see the down side.

Example: I was vaulting very well on a pole I was comfortable with, running fast, and getting pleanty of penetration and bend, so my coach wanted me to try a slightly stiffer pole. For some reason it mentally freaked me out and I screwed the whole jump. I stalled out pretty early and there I was, in the 'fetal position' with the pole at verticle. I tried to get it to ride through and into the pit, but instead it went the other way and I ended up back onto the runway. Overall I was fine, but it hurt my ancles and I couldnt run at full speed for a few days - which could have been completely prevented had someone been close and paying enough attention to give the pole a little push.

So basically - my belief is that the benefits outweigh the risks, and that as long as its done intelligently, it will do alot more benefit than harm.
I have so many more thoughts and points I would love to discuss, but this has already gotten to be far too long.
Lastly I just want to say that of course spotting might not be the choice for everyone, and some vaulters wont want them there or will want them closer/further away - but whats the harm in allowing it?
Thanks gbob for bringing up the topic, safety is often overlooked due to the excitement of the actual sport, but it should always be on our minds.
I welcome any comments.

[moehill]

Not going to get real lenghthy here cause people have already said some good things But I believe 100 percent the we need spotters even behind the vaulter in the box. I follow all of mine in there been doing it for ten years and have never have a bad injury. Better than having to explain to that kids parents why you couldn't do anything about it.

[vaultinggoat16]

Im still liking a 60x60 mat think about it....you could like jump out of a plane onto that mat

[mcminkz05]

Im still liking a 60x60 mat think about it....you could like jump out of a plane onto that mat

but what happens when you stall over the box, or get rejected back toward the runway?